Dominion tells NRC nuclear fuel removed

Dominion Resources Inc., owner of Kewuanee Power Station, notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on May 14 it had removed all nuclear fuel from the reactor.

The notification means that the plant is no longer authorized to operate the reactor or put fuel into it.

Dominion shut down the power plant on May 7 and plans to decommission it.

The fuel rods will remain in the spent fuel pool in the plant for at least seven years, after which they will be put into dry-cask storage on the site.

Dominion notified the state Department of Workforce Development that 202 of 632 permanent workers are scheduled to be laid off at the end of May. Those layoffs would be followed by 56 by June 30, 46 by July 31, 31 between August and December, five by Sept. 30, 2014, and 293 on Sept. 30, 2014, or later.